Mobilizing the Airwaves: The Challenges to the Voice of America and
RFE/RL

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156 November 13, 198i MOBILIZING THE NR WA E'S: THE CHALLENGE I
I TO THE VWCE OF AMERICA AND RFE/RL INTRODUCTION For tens of
millions of East Europeans, the most reliable information about
their own country comes from outside. Each day they listen often s
e cretly to the radio broadcasts beamed from the West. No sources
of information are more important to them, or to U.S. interests,
than the Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
(RFE/RL The radios broadcast around the clock in.some fort y
languages and their signals reach significant portions of the
western Soviet Union and its European satellites. Without 'these
programs, Poles certainly w.ould not have been informed of the
momentum of the Solidarity workers movement, nor would other Eas t
Europeans have known of its exist ence.

It is clearly in the national interest of the United States that
these stations continue to operate. As the .peoples under Communist
domination are informed about the realities of their governments
and the nations of the West they are less likely to be mi sled by
Party propaganda. The Soviet Union pays tribute to the power of
these programs in its own way by spending a tremen dous sum to jam
them.

Yet the radios are in danger at home. During the detente era,
they were seriously underfunded .and needed techn ical improve
ments were not made. In view of the potential these stations hold
for American security policy, it is important that this trend.be
reversed. This study examines the current status of the radios and
how to increase their effectiveness THE DECL INE OF THE BROADCASTS
The last ten years have taken. thei.r toll on .RFE/RL and VOA.

With :the pursuit of "detente" and the proclamation that
2heric.a 2 must get over its "inordinate fear of communism,Il the
radios have been seriously underfunded and allow ed to lapse into
technical obsolescence. Efforts'to make VOA programming as bland as
possible have eroded employee morale. While the Voice.of America,
an agency of the U.S. government, and Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty a private corporation funded by th e U.S. government, have
differing missions, the inherent difficulties of broadcasting to
the Eastern Bloc are similar.

Increased funding i's urgently needed to modernize equipment
particularly to combat jamming by the Soviets and to 'extend the
broadcast signal to regions not now reached. Programming must be
more flexible to adapt to audience circumstances and interest.

Staffs nend to be increased, while security must be provided
when personnel occupy vulnerable posts abroad.

HISTORY AND CURRENT OPERATIONS OF RFE/RL Until 1976, Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty functioned as two completely separate
organizations broadcasting in July 1950 in the wake of the Berlin
Blockade and the Communist seizure of power in Czechoslovakia.

Hungarian Revolution in 1956, ac cusations arose that
inflammatory broadcasts by Radio Free Europe might have misled the
people of Hungary into believing that the United States was ready
to inter Although these allegations were unfounded Radio Free
Europe modified its broadcasting policy ; it became a surrogate
free press for the countries of Eastern Europe.

Radio Liberty began broadcasts to the Soviet Union as Radio
Liberation in January 19

51. It was then a part of the IIAmerican Committee for Freedom
of the Peoples of the U.S.S.R., 1nc orporated.I The Committee's
main activity was sponsoring shortwave broadcasts by recent
emigres. Like Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberationls policy evolved
from broadcasting quasi-wartime propaganda to providing a "home
servicef1 station that filled the So v iet people's need for
information. This gradual shift in emphasis led to changing the
name of the station to Radio Liberty in 1963 tional broadcasting
broadcast media in the United States, providing international news
and commentary; but they supplement t h is by reporting and
interpreting events in a manner understandable to Soviet or East
European citizens partial information given by the official
Communist media are also integral parts of their programming by the
Central Intelligence Agency was revealed i n 1970, President Nixon
was pressured to shift appropriation authority to Congress.

In 1972, he established the '!Presidential Study Commission on
International Broadcasting" to examine whether Radio Liberty and
Radio Free Europe began After the vene on their behalf.

Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty are unique in interna They
operate in much the same manner as the Correcting misinformation or
expanding on the When covert funding of Radio Free Europe and Radio
Liberty 3 Radio Free Europe should continue to receive U.S. funding
and support, and what form such funding should taka, or whether the
stations should be shut down. The Chairman o'f the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee J. William Fulbright, led the attack against
the radios and branded them llre lics of the Cold War."

The Commission, chaired by Milton S. Eisenhower, published a
report to the President in 1973 titled !!The Right To Knowi1 in
which it concluded that: the Commission feels that the use of
United States Government funds .for Radio Free Europe and Radio
Liberty should be put into.proper perspective. It is our conviction
that the special contributions of Radio Free Europe and Radio
Liberty to a better understanding by citizens of the Iron Curtain
countries of what is happening .in the wi der world and their own
countries have an indirect but very appreciable long-term
effect.

Hence, the cost of the radios cannot be considered separately
from our nation's total cost of working for peace and deterring
aggression. Over a long,period of years, the contribution can
obviate military expenditures many times greater than the
broadcasting costs. Con trariwise, elimination of the radios could
lead over time to increased military c0sts.l The Eisenhower
Commission suggested that a "Board for Inter nat i onal
Broadcastingi1 be created. In 1973, Public Law 93-129 later amended
after the merger of the two radios in 1976, estab lished the Board
for International Broadcasting Itto review and evaluate the mission
and operation of RFE/RL, Incorporated, and to a s sess the quality,
effectiveness and professional integrity of its broadcasting within
the context of the broad foreign policy objectives of the United
States.lr2 five voting members appointed by the President to fixed
three-year terms and two ex officio m e mbers (the chief operating
executive of the radios and the Chairman of the Board of RFE/RL
handles the funding for RFE/RL and acts as a coordinator between
the radio and the executive and legislative branches of the U.S
government The BIB is composed of I t Today, Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty, Incorporated, broad Most of RFE/RL casts over
1,017 h0ur.s weekly in six major languages of Eastern Europe and
fifteen languages of the Soviet Union program operations are based
in Munich, West Germany, but trans m i tters broadcast from Spain
and Portugal, and correspondents report from several capitals of
Europe administrative of.fices, and programming facilities in New
York RFE/RL has studios 1 "The Right to Know Report of the
Presidential Study Comission on Inter national Broadcasting, 1973,
p. 56.

Its FY 1981 revised budget is $97,495,000 at the exchange rate
of 1.74 Deutsche Marks to the dollar, including $3,000,000 in emer
gency funds should the exchange rate fall bel.ow DM 1.74.

Besides broadcasts to the Eastern Bloc, RFE/RL operates the
largest private research f acility in the West concentrating on
Soviet, East European and Communist affairs. RFE/RL estimates that
it reaches an audience of 32 million East Europeans and 14 million
Soviet citizens more from receiving the broadcasts.

Constant Soviet jamming prevents millions VOICE OF AMERICA
The'Voice of America antedates the Cold War. It began broadcasting
in German seventy-nine days after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
During World War 11, the Office of War Information absorbed the
VOA. The first broadcast included a statement of purpose Daily at
this time, we shall speak to you about.America and the war the news
may be good or bad we shall tell you the truth."

After the war, the State Department assumed responsibility to
oversee the VOA. With the passage of the Smith -Mundt Act in 1948,
the Voice of America became an integral element of American foreign
policy In 1953, responding to a recommendation by the Commission on
Organization of the Government (the Hoover Commis sion), Congress
created the United States Informa tion Agency, of which the VOA
became a part In 1978, the Carter Administration merged the
Department of State's Bureau of Cultural Information and the United
States Information Agency to create the United States International
Communication Agency.

At the h eight of World War 11, the VOA broadcast in forty
languages; by the end of the Korean War it peaked with forty-six
languages. In 1953, twelve languages were dropped, and in 1955
direct shortwave broadcasts to Western Europe in all languages
except English ceased. Currently VOA broadcasts regularly sche
duled programs in forty languages, with special broadcasts in other
languages. It broadcasts 904.75 hours weekly over 101 transmitters
located in the United States and around the globe.

The current FY 1981 operating budget of $99,087,000 supports a
staff of 2,214, including 750 American and foreign national
personnel abroad.

PURPOSE OF RFE/RL AND VOA Though similar in some respects Radio
Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Voice of America serve very
different purposes.

The VOA is an agency of the U.S. government, and is headed by
the Associate Director of Broadcasting, who reports to.the Director
'5 of the United States International Communication Agency. Besides
reporting accurate, objective, and comprehensi ve news, its mission
is to !!present the policies of the United States clearly and
effectively and also present.responsible discussion and opinion on
these policies VOA is charged to represent America, not any single
segment of American society, and [it] will therefore present a
balanced and comprehensive projection of significant American
thought and institutions In other words, it is what the name
implies: the Woice!l of America.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Incorporated, has never been a
part of the United States government. It is an indepen dent entity,
registered as a corporation in the state of Delaware.

RFE/RL is staffed primarily by East European and Soviet emigres
and its broadcasts are specifically designed for audiences behind
the Iron Curta in. Like VOA, RFE/RLIs mission is to transmit world
news accurately and reliably, but RFE/RL are also to "broad cast
and critically analyze documents and works of political
significance and/or cultural merit which have been produced by
citizens of the U.S . S.R. or the Eastern European nations but have
been denied official publication by censorship.113 RFE/RL operates
as !'home service!I.radio stations to 'fill the void created by the
lack of free, diverse press. Independence of the official U.S
government i s crucial to the operation of the radios. While RFE/RL
by law does not make broadcasts !'inconsistent with the broad
foreign policy objectives of the United States it can be
hardhitting and controversial where this would be inappropriate for
a government r adio.

EASTERN BLOC INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING The Soviet Union expends
more resources on international broadcasting than any other nation.
The Central Intelligence Agency estimates that the Soviets spend
700 million a year on the operating budget of Radio Moscow, which
broadcasts 2,000 hours weekly in eighty-two languages over 285
high-powered trans mitters. Radio Moscow does not temper its
broadcasts; explosive statements and extreme distortions of the
truth form the basis of its programming sacking of th e American
Embassy in Pakistan by an angry mob earlier broadcasts had implied
American involvement in the take over of the Great Mosque in Mecca.
The Soviets also operate a llsemi-officialll station, Radio Peace
and Progress that broad casts more stridentl y than Radio Moscow
and several !lcovertf or !!liberation radios such as the Voice of
Free Turkey and the well-known National Voice of Iran, which
broadcasted inflammatory and radically anti-American material
during the hostage crisis in Iran and continues to do SO The other
Eastern bloc nations do These probably played a major part in the 3
4 The Mission of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty," Board for
Interna tiorial Broadcasting, 7th Annual Report, 1981, ,p. 31.

Kenneth L Adelman, "Speaking of America Foreign Affairs, Spring
1981 Public Diplomacy In Our Times," a considerable amount of
broadcasting, although not as intensively as the U.S.S.R I An
additional sum, estimated some years ago at $300 million is spent
annually by the Soviets to jam incoming W estern broadcasts.

The Soviets have complained publicly and repeatedly that
broadcasts by VOA and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty constitute
interference in the internal affairs of the Soviet Union. The
Soviets even threatened to boycott the 1972 Olympics in Munich,
West Ge r many unless RFE/RL were shut down. The stations, however,
remained on the air and the Soviets attended the games anyway.
While Hungary and Romania have not jammed Western broadcasts since
the early sixties, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and occasionally Polan
d continue to jam RFE/RL and VOA intermittently.

TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES OF RFE/RL AND THE VOA The technical
ability to reash a targeted audience with a constantly audible
signal is a sine gua non of effective broad casting its
transmitters. By 1982, the po wer RFE/RL uses to transmit will have
almost doubled over eight years, from 3,775 kilowatts to 7,500
kilowatts. Even with this upgrading, Radio Liberty will not be able
to send a reliable signal to Eastern Europe nor will it be able to
reach Soviet Centra l Asia on a "first hop" basis A Irhopff is the
signal bounce from shortwave transmitters up to the ionisphere and
down to the receiver. The l'second hop" occurs when the signal goes
back up to the ionisphere and then descends a second time. For each
hop af ter the first, there is loss of approximately 90 percent of
the signal strength. The "first hopf1 area of a Radio Liberty
broadcast does not go beyond the Ural Mountains There are no
current plans to remedy this problem.

According to planners at RFE/RL, th e main problem is finding a
host country in the Middle East for RFE/RL transmitting. Countries
such as Oman and Pakistan, which are ideally located, are subject
to great pressure by the Soviets not to allow RFE/RL
facilities.

Considering the current situa tion in Afghanistan, and in light
of the growing significance of the Soviet Moslem nationalities
encouraging a host government to allow the construction of RFE/RL
transmitters (which takes years), should be a high priority at the
BIB and the State Departm e nt RFE/RL is now undertaking a limited
program to modernize Later this year, the modernization program
will make signals transmitted to Eastern Europe meet the minimum
technical criteria established by a presidential study of U.S.
international broadcast requirements submitted to the Congress in
19

There have been a numb er of specific measures proposed in
Congress to strengthen international broadcasting to Eastern Europe
and the Soviet Union. In a recent letter to President 7 Reagan,
Representative Jim Courter (R-NJ) made several short-term
suggestions Increase the numb er of broadcasts by operating trans
mitters during hours normally unscheduled.

Allocate six to ten transmitter hours at VOA's facility at
Kavala, Greece, to relay RL broadcasts to Soviet Central Asia.

Explore the possibility with the British government of
increasing BBC broadcasts to Eastern Europe and the U.S.S.R.

Examine the possibility of cooperation with other allied
governments Such initiatives might include requesting that U.S
broadcasters temporarily be allowed .to use the radio facilities of
allied governments Purchase, once again, transmitter time from
Taiwan to broadcast RL programs to the Soviet Far East and Eastern
Siberi a.

These proposals are intended as interim measures until the
United States constructs adequate facilities of its own PROGRAMMING
while the ability to transmit to a specific area is essential for
successful broadcasting, the nature of programming determine s
whether an audience is willing to endure jamming and risk prosecu
tion to tune in to American broadcasts on a regular basis It is
obvious from the reports reaching the West and the tremendous
jamming efforts by the Soviets'that the programming is succes s ful
Both VOA and RFE/RL broadcast international news, commentaries and
''Round Tables, as well as features which include music history,
and human interest stories. Since the missions of the two radios
differ, their respective programming must be examined
separately.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has a reputation in Eastern
Europe for relevant and timely broadcasts It has been estimated
that during the recent unrest in Poland, more than two-thirds of
the adult population tuned in to Radio Free Europe broa dcasts each
week In the Soviet Union, those able to receive the broad casts
listen to Radio Liberty frequently. In the large cities however,
Soviet ground wave jamming has .made reception nearly impossible
most of the time I I RFE/RL first-run broadcasts are 50 percent
news and news features 35 percent political, economic and
social-cultural features, and 15 percent other programming, such as
music.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty program ming has been criti
cized, particularly for how it deals with the Soviet Union A recent
memorandum prepared by James Critchlow, a programming and research
officer with the Board of International Broadcasting concluded that
The program Policy Guidelines wh i ch are supposed to govern RFE/RL
broadcasts are systematically being violated by the RL Russian
Service, with detriment not only to the .reputation of the radio
station in the eyes of its listeners but with an impact damaging to
American foreign policy in terests.

Relying on very weak evidence, Critchlow alleged violations of
Radio Liberty .policy such as anti-democratic and anti-Western
themes, anti-Catholic programming, and anti-Semitic overtones.

Although the BIB took no significant action, this interna l
memoran- dum was leaked to Jack Anderson and became the subject of
one of his daily columns. The result was a distorted public image
of RFE/RL, causing some congressional staffs to reconsider funding
and support of the radio.

On the other hand, Vladimir Bukovsky, a well-known Soviet
dissident, has expressed legitimate criticism of the entire system
of RFE/RL guidelines which serve to hamstring broadcasters and
commentators. For example, the radio is directed to avoid: sweeping
generalizations, propagand i stic argumenta tion, gratuitous value
judgments, unsupported criticism of the Communist system or its
representatives, as well as the use of obsolete or inaccurate
terminology such as "the Communist bloc, tfCommunist satellite
countries and Ilcapitalism v s. communism.

Bukovsky states that while the guidelines might be of some use
interpretation by some personnel leads to confusion and, more
important, to self-censorship. To best sene the Soviet listener the
programs must be hard-hitting, and the news and o pinions both
diverse and controversial.

Bukovsky .suggests that common sense should direct policy.

Without well-informed, strategically-based common sense editing
he contends, guidelines are of little use. Bukovsky emphasizes that
the radios are the best strategic resource that the United States
has RJ?E/RL Program Policy Guidelines, in paragraph 6, section 2,
6th Annual BIB Report.

Opinions expressed to the author of this paper by Vladimir
Bukovsky. 9 There has been little criticism of the East European
broad casts of RFE/RL. A recent emigre from Poland has stated that
Radio Free Europe is .the most popular of the Western radios.

Radio Free Europe broadcast hours total more than Voice of
America British Broadcasting Corporation, and Deutsche Welle/Deuts
chland funk combined 555 hours per week of first-run and repeat
trans missions. In light of the current situation in Poland,
considera tion should be given to increasing the broadcasts to that
country from nineteen to twenty-four hours daily centralized n e ws
operations room, and 20 percent commentary describing U.S. foreign
policy and coordinated with the State Department. The remaining 20
percent is feature programming such as music. VOA listeners around
the world essentially hear the same news broadcasts . After the
first several lead stories, the different language services are
free to pick news items from a ews menu." Provision is also made on
occasion for items of special interest for specific areas that are
optional for other services VOA programming c o nsists of 60
percent news, compiled by a VOA policy demands that all news items
must have at least two sources. Like RFE/RL, VOA has a reputation
for accurate reporting. However, while centralization is effective
for accuracy the standardization which res u lts does not take into
account the interests of diverse audiences or their access to
alternative information sources among the languages in which it
broadcasts broadcasts are on a twenty-four hour basis and Russian
language service is sixteen hours daily, languages such as Swahili
or Lao are on the air only one hour daily. The Polish language
service broadcasts a mere two hours daily.

The Voice of America Russian language service has its
critics.

Ludmilla Alexeyeva, a noted Soviet dissident, has been VOA
listener for twenty years. She states that most Soviet citizens
listen to VOA more than the other Western services because it is
the most audible, not because it is the most favored. In a recent
article she states that VOA has established priorities for a i r
time While English language I I VOAfs broadcasts are frequently
boring Politically acute topics, which other radio stations are
discussing are avoided. Very often facts, unpleasant for the Soviet
authorities, are either hushed up or smoothed over Only d i
ssidents have overcome the state monopoly on information, and
dissidents constitute the only moral and intellectual opposition.
Therefore, no matter how small their numbers and how alienated from
the rest of the society they may be, everything they do or s ay is
acutely interesting to the rest of the "silent majorityll even to
those who dislike them. Meanwhile VOA broadcasts on the independent
life in Soviet society are far and few between, and they almost
never deal I 10 with what the dissidents are doing, but only with
their arrests and trials In a recent television interview with
Congressman John Leboutillier (R-NY), Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn spoke
of the inadequate content of Western broadcasts. He pointed out
that most of the programming dwells on the mate rial aspects of
Western life rather than subjects of intense interest to the Soviet
listener, such as ideology, history, and religion.

The VOA can reach more of the Soviet Union than any other
Western radio. Until RFE/RL is able to broadcast strong transmi s
sions, VOA should make its programming more diverse. There are many
emigres from the Soviet Union who are fully integrated into
American society and are capable of writing the politically dynamic
material the Soviet listener desires.

VOA Russian Service broadcasts only forty-five minutes of
first-run religious programming, fifteen of which is devoted to
Judaism. Since there are many indications that there is a Chris
tian revival, an increase of'religious programming should be
seriously considered. The w isdom of broadcasting music during
periods of jamming is also questionable. Although news is distor
ted, it often is audible through jamming, where music becomes a
jumble of noise.

MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL Because of the non-governmental nature of
RFE/RL, the Board of International Broadcasting was created to
grant and oversee funds allocated by the Congress to the radio.
This has created dual management, consisting of the Board of Di
rectors of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Board of
International Broadcast ing. The BIB has been headed by political
appointees, while the Board of Directors of RFE/RL has been staffed
by professionals.

There is friction between the two bodies.

Lack of funding, poor programming, and shortage of personnel
are.some of the issues. However, the primary source of discontent
has been BIB actions perceived as a detriment to the radio.

Since 1973, there have been solid proposals for revitalization
yet th e BIB has asked for only moderate increases in funding for
the radio John Gronouski, previous chairman of the BIB, even wanted
to allow officials of the-Communist governments of Eastern Europe
and the Soviet Union "equal time1! to respond to RFE/RL broadc a
sts which they felt to "be unfair Many at RFE/RL opposed this
recommendation, since Communist governments have a monopoly on the
domestic media. Some RFE/RL executives feel that the BIB Ludmilla
Alexeyeva Voice of America Russian-Language Broadcasts I Rus s ia,
Issue #2, 1981 11 has been a hindrance to the radio and.a source of
negative and inaccurate leaks to the media. They f.eel that BI'B
should try harder to obtain more funds and find ways to promote
financial efficiency. Instead, RFE/RL administrators h a ve had to
spend time on Capitol Hill lobbying to counter the efforts of the
'BIB It is widely felt in Congress that the current management
structure is awkward. Pending legislation would eliminate the
RFE/RL Board of Directors and allow the BIB full contr o l of
RFE/RL. Senator Claiborne Pel1 (D-R.I.) has introduced an amend
ment for the FY 1982 budget authorization; it has passed the Senate
and is now before the House. It states Sec. 304(a) The Board for
International Broadcasting Act of 1973 is amended by a dding to the
end thereof the following new section MERGER OF THE BOARD FOR
INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING AND THE RFE/RL BOARD See. ll.(a)
Effective January 1, 1982, no grant may be made under this Act to
RFE/RL, Incorporated, unless the certificate of incorp o ration of
RFE/RL, Incorporated has been amended to provide that 1) the Board
of Directors of RFE/RL, Incorporated shall consist of the members
of the Board for Interna tional Broadcasting and of no other
members; and If (2) such B0ar.d of Directors shall m ake all major
policy determinations governing the operation of RI?E/RL
Incorporated, and shall appoint and fix the compensa tion of such
managerial officers and employees of RFE/RL, Incorporated, as it
deems necessary to carry out the requirements of this Act b)
Compliance with the requirement of .Paragraph (1 of subsection (a)
shall not be construed to make RFE/RL Incorporated, a Federal
agency or instrumentality.If8 This proposal, similar to George
McGovern's abortive proposal of 1977, could have several negative
effects. It would make the U.S. government directly responsible for
what is broadcast by RFE/RL, which would be awkward should the
Administration be engaged in SALT or other delicate negotiations
with the Soviets.

Moreover, opponents of this amen dment contend it would
mean.$hat direct control of the radio would be in the hands of
presidential appointees whose main commitment would be to the
specific foreign policy of the President. Thus RFE/RL could become
as bland as VOA did during the Nixon and Ford Administrations
Congressional Record, June 17, 1978, pp. S6387-8. 12 Proponents of
the Pel1 Amendment perceive it to be the way to unify management of
RFE/RL, the BIB and the Board of Directors of the RFE/RL.
Currently, the only leverage the BIB chai r man holds is the threat
to withhqld funds, which is impractical in most circumstances
passage of the amendment would allow the current Administration as
well as future administrations more authority over the radio
necessary because the funds of taxpayers enable the radios to exist
It has been further suggested that the Consideration of the
amendment is expected during November.

PERSONNEL PROBLEMS AT VOA The VOA runs as an agency of the
United States International Communication Agency. Employees are
part of the Civil Service and are given GS ratings Some are also
Reserve Foreign Service Officers and contract employees For many
years, quiet animo sity has existed between career foreign service
information officers, 'who are often placed temporarily in the VO A
as service directors, and career VOA staff. Advancement is another
source of frustration within the language services: the best rating
one can achieve in assignments other than editor is GS-

11. While an employee can be promoted to other positions such a
s a news writer, such positions use only English. As a result, some
of the most effective bilingual employees 'leave VOA for better
opportunities both in and out of the federal government. The
positions are then often filled with emigre personnel who are not
as fluent in English as their assignments require. Consequently
mistakes both in translation and in the home language become more
frequent.

FUNDING Since the Soviet Union spends approximately $300 million
on jamming alone, the Soviets spend more money on U.S.-sponsored
broadcasts than the U.S. government does. Inflation, increased
energy costs, and fluctuating currency rates have impaired growth
of the radios.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has been limited to a growth in
funding of between 5.9 percen t and 9.4 percent; this has not
kept.pace with inflation. Indeed, it has been barely adequate to
continue operations. Hiring new talent, inaugurating new pro grams,
undertaking needed long-term maintenance have all been beyond the
financial reach of the r a dio. RFE/RL has allotted 2.4 million for
FY 1981 to move some of the Munich staff to New York City, as
recommended by the General Accounting Office. The Reagan
Administration reconsidered the political and morale effects of
this move and recommended again st implementing it.

The Administration also allowed RFE/RL to keep the funds
allotted as a supplemental for operations. However, the funds had
to be used to offset the $3 million in damages caused by the bomb
blast in Munich in February of 19

81. Addition al operational 'budget 13 funds were needed to
completely cover the damages. The final amount given to the radio
in excess of funds originally appropri ated by Congress was $4
million dollars. As for the FY 1982, the Administration has cut the
operating b udget by 12 percent from the original figure proposed.
This would mean an increase of approximately 8 percent from the EY
1981 budget an amount woefully inade~ate For the Voice of America,
the picture is somewhat brighter.

Congress has allotted $79.3 million to augment the transmitter
facilities in Botswana and Sri Lanka. This project will be
especially important to the Central and Southeast Asian region
where the present transmitting capabilities have been weak.

However, the budget is still inadequate. In 1977, the budget for
ICA (upon which VOA is dependent) was $320,766,000; the proposed
1982 budget as of September 1981 is $466,638,0

00. In.1977 dol lars this is $288,206,000, or a real dollar
decrease of $32 million.

VOA still lacks funds to broadcast the hours needed to counter
Communist jamming and propaganda is shorthanded, as are most of the
services. In almost every language service there are positions
vacant, in part through lack of funds. Both VOA and RFE/RL st i ll
lack the resources to finish replacing 1950s vacuum-tube era
equipment The engineering staff OPERATION BUDGETS OF RFE/FL AND
VOA, FY78 TO FY81 (PROJECTED Fiscal Year VOA RFE/RL DM Conv. Rate
i978 69,728,000 $64,457,000 2.58 1979 75,294,000 $72,490,000 2
.1075 1980 85,670,000 $80,430,000 1.93 1981 99,087,000 $97,495,000
1.74 1982 (Projected 107,022, 0OO1O $86,500,014 1.93 A proposal
from Congressman Courter addresses the problem of technical
facility modernization of RFEDL. Among his major points are 0 Re p
lacement of obsolescent medium wave transmitters in West Germany
for East European coverage 0 Installation of ten to twelve
transmitters at new West European site for coverage of European
targets Figures according to Arthur D. Levin, Financial Manager for
the Board for International Broadcasting.

As of this writing, the Office of Management and Budget has
announced that the International Communications Agency will have to
cut 12 percent from its original FY 1982 budget. The effect on the
VOA operational bu dget is unknown, although the transmitter
augmentatzon will not be affected lo 14 0 Erection of eight
transmitters at a new Middle Eastern South Asian site for Soviet
Central Asian and West Siberian coverage Miscellaneous technical
improvements 0 Replacem ent of obsolescent transmitters in West
Germany for coverage of European .targets.

This package, based on a more modest proposal by RFEDL, is
estimated to cost $130 million. A bill to appropriate the neces
sary funds is now being written and potential co-sponsors are being
sought.

SECURITY Since Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty links with the
CIA were severed, individual safety has been a major problem.
Employ ees have been threatened and the intelligence agencies of
several of the Eastern Bloc countries ha ve attempted to recruit
them.

RFE/RL's equipment and facilities have also been the target of
Eastern Bloc sabotage. The vulnerability of the radio was naked ly
exposed on February 21, 1981, when the Munich headquarters was
bombed. The blast caused several million dollars in damage to
equipment and hurt morale seriously. Although repairs have been
made, the attack was successful in diverting the operating supple
mental funds granted to the station by the Reagan
Administration.

On July 25, 1981, Jack Anders on reported that the personal
secretary of the central news director had been arrested by
Bavarian police on charges of spying for the Romanian secret
police. In that same article, Anderson reported that Emil George
scu, a supervising program editor, comp l.ained of being harassed
by death threats and physical abuse by the Romanian secret
police.

A few days after the article was published, Georgescu was
stabbed twenty-six times in his garage and required intensive care
treat ment.

Another example of proble ms with security occurred in the early
seventies. When Vladimir Bukovsky was freed from prison for a short
time in 1970, he was given a samizdat (an underground dissident
publication) by Vladimir Osipov with Osipov's own handwritten
corrections on it. Buk ovsky then passed the document to the West,
where it was subsequently placedin the Radio Liberty samizdat
archive.

In 1974, when Bukovsky again was in.prison, he was interrogated
by the KGB about Osipov. As Bukovsky was denying any knowledge of
Osipov, the interrogator produced the same samizdat.he had passed
to the West four years earlier unmistakably the same because it
contained the corrections in 0sipov's.handwriting. The cover sheet
had the Radio Liberty Archive logo and was stamped with the date it
w a s received. As a result, the Soviet authorities sentenced
Osipov to four years in prison It was 15 The staff and facilities
of RFE/RL must be protected since they are and will continue to be
targets of'Eastern Bloc covert actions reluctant to cooperate wi t
h the radio because it views RFE/RL as a strictly American
operation. An added factor is that some offi cials in the FRG
government view RFE/RL as an obstacle to the forging of closer ties
to the .Sovi.et Union'and East Germany The government of the Feder
a l Republic of Germany is The following steps could improve
.security a The CIA should once again conduct background
investigations of potential employees 0 Updates on the clearances
of employees workingfor RFE/RL should be conducted as soon as
possible a Funds for conventional security of the physical plant
should be increased.

These measures should apply not only to the facility in Munich
but to all RFE/RL personnel and property abroad.

CONCLUSION Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
have suffered from insufficient funding, technical inadequacy, and
over--restrictive programming guidelines tions, the staffs .have
done a remarkable job. From what is known, both radios have wide
audiences despite jamming and weak signals. However, much impr
ovement is necessary. The Solidarity movement in Poland the
invasion of Afghanistan, and nationalist and religious awakening in
the Soviet Union all point .to a new era in the Eastern Bloc and
new opportunities for the West.

International broadcasting to t hose areas is vital. As Congress
man Courter observed Even under these condi The truth is one of our
greatest weapons and, as such it should be regard as an essential
element in our defense policy. It is an extremely cost-effective
non-military weapon tha t we must use as energetically as possible
in order to prevent ever having to use our military weapons.11 VOA
and RFE/RL should be permitted to coordinate broadcasts in terms of
what geographic areas can and cannot.be reached, which transmitters
can be sha r ed, and what each knows about the audiences l1
Representative Jim Courter, "Truth is a powerful weapon," The
Washington Star, August 9, 1980. I 16 reached or not being reached
would be a waste of a great national security resource. Further
neglect of the radios Paul Olkhovsky Research Assistant